Movement
by Thistlescratch
Summary: Kenshin, a magician, discovers Kaoru working as a fortune teller at a Ren. Faire. Knowing she has more potential than that, he directs her to his old Master for teaching.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. Or Tarot, for that matter...but I don't think that's copywrited.

Author's Notes: Yes, yes, I know I have too much on my plate, but I can't help it--it attacked me! Anyway, there are notes at the bottom on all the tarot cards mentioned in this story, just in case anyone was interested.

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Kenshin paused outside the dilapidated looking tent. He was in the midst of his first Ren Faire and sort of existing in a comfortable state of general bemusement. The faint smile on his face had broadened several times during the day (most notably at the booth specifically advertising that their serving wenches had cleavage that you could rest a drink on), but this was the first time that it had disappeared completely. He stood stock still in front of the mangy, shadowed entrance, debating whether or not he should go inside. It was a fortune telling booth, and as a full practitioner of the Art and certified wizard for ten years, he should have no trouble reading his own future, and shouldn't have been interested--but this booth had faint stirrings of the Power draped all about it, like a second layer of tent canvas. He could hear the faint murmurings of the supposed seer inside, most likely fleecing a mark. He would wait outside until the poor sob came out, and he could scan the guy for traces as he went past. After all, it could be that…He squinted at the name picked out in cheesy sequins on the front of the tent. It could be that Madame Kamiya, Mistress of the Ancient Arts, had bought the tent off a legitimate witch. So he sat down in the dust, unworried for his kakis, drew three smoothed rock crystals out of his belt-pouch, and began to juggle, focusing on knowing, on seeing, on breaking illusions, and remaining unnoticed himself.

The clear stones sparkled prettily in the sunlight, but it was Kenshin's hands that did the real work. His Master had despaired of him entirely, but there was no helping it: Kenshin's magic was entirely kinetic-based, and though he could manage telekinesis in the traditional manner, any magic advanced beyond that point required that he move himself. Little things like this could be accomplished with juggling, but spells that required more energy could take anything from dancing to the dusty old katas his Master had shown him. He flipped the stones in ever more complex patterns, from simple loops to triple fountains to the patterns that ate up a trickle of magic themselves, until he heard the rustle of cloth and the sound of footsteps from within the tent. The man who walked out was utterly unremarkable, especially at a ren. faire, but the subtle hints of power that lay draped around his aura were unmistakably the same as the glossy stuff that hung about the tent.

So. There was a little mageling in there, was there? Kenshin stood up, squared his shoulders, dusted off his pants, locked away his own power as tightly as he could, and ambled into the dark recesses of the tent, looking like every other tourist out there. It was dim inside, and what little light there was reflected off the many pits of shiny trash hanging from the ceiling. He could just barely make our the young woman's form--she must be 'Mistress Kamiya'.

"I'm, ah, looking for a reading," he stammered into the gloom, projecting "ignorant tourist" as hard as he could.

"Then come to the right place, you have," the woman said, her voice shifting between querulous and grating. Kenshin resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Was she channeling Yoda? He sat down in the creaky metal folding chair.

"How much?"

"Forty dollars," No nonsense there--she must need the money. Actually, it was a fair price, as paid reading went. Technically, you weren't supposed to charge for magic, but Kenshin wasn't going to hold that against someone who had no other means to feed themselves. He handed over the money, and the seeress handed him a pack of glossy Tarot cards. They were saturated with her aura, and felt quite new. She must be stronger than she seemed. "If you have a particular problem, focus on it…" she began, but Kenshin cut her off.

"I think just a general reading of my past and future would be enough, thank you." Perhaps it wasn't what the average mark would say, but if she was a seeress, he didn't want her seeing too many of his problems, especially the ones involving werewolves. He started shuffling the cards, tamping down the magic that rose naturally to the movement of his hands. He shuffled them for a while, then handed them back wordlessly.

"I use the Celtic Cross spread," 'Mistress Kamiya' said softly. Kenshin knew of it, but let her explain. She continued speaking as she laid out the cards. "The central card represents you, and crossing it is the card that represents problems in your life. Beneath and behind you are two important events or people from your past, and above you and ahead of you are the same for your future." Kenshin watched her hands as she laid the cards out, entranced. The magic eddied around them in thick, glossy waves so potent he thought he could touch them. When she set the card down onto the table, the magic dropped with it under the weight of expectant truth. It wasn't until she stopped laying out the cards that he looked at what was printed on the little rectangles of pasteboard.

She pointed at the center card with one slender finger. "Here representing you is the Magician." Her voice grew less misty as her magic took hold of her, becoming, if not sunny, then strong and confident. "That tells me that you're a confident person with a powerful personality, but you may have a tendency to remain aloof and avoid people."

_Or it could mean that I'm a magician_, Kenshin thought wryly. _Actually, we're both right. _He had to suppress a chuckle.

Kamiya held up the next card, the two of cups. "This, in the crossed position, confirms what the Magician is saying. You are probably fairly lonely." Kenshin wasn't sure if he was imagining the hollow, hungry tone in her voice, or the pain in the eyes that he could barely see in the gloom. She returned the card to its spot on the table, and pointed at the next. "Below you is the High Priestess. She was…a woman in your life, both dark and pale. Once she was there, but now she is gone. Perhaps…is that why you are so lonely?"

Kenshin worried his lower lip. Kamiya's readings hit too close to home, and the old ache of Tomoe flared up inside him again. A magician's wife, with power of her own…it seemed so pointless for her to die like she did, under the wheels of a car. "There was a woman," he said softly, "But you're right, she's gone now." He felt a wave of warm sympathy flow out to him from the girl, but she only continued on to the next card.

"The Hierophant behind you still influences you. He taught you old secrets, and you still look to him for guidance, though sometimes you resent the hold he has on your life."

For the future, he had drawn the Lovers, followed more enigmatically by Strength. The image printed on the card struck him strangely. A dark-haired woman, nearly the twin of the High Priestess, stared out with the gleam of laughter in her eye and twined her hair in the red mane of a crouching lion. The last four cards, all cups and wands, promised him nothing but bounty and good. With the reading finished, Kenshin was sure: he had found himself a seer. What he didn't know now was what to do with her. He was just rising to leave, think it over, and call his Master when he heard a timid voice in the dark.

"Sir?" He turned to face her, seeing her face more clearly than ever. She was beautiful. But, somehow, he had already known that.

"Yes?" he asked, straining to keep his voice light.

"You've got…my mother always called it the 'spark'." He sensed she was blushing over the rural terminology. He moved to sit down again, and she murmured, so softly he could barely hear, "She said I had it too…"

Kenshin let his magic flare up, illuminating the tent. "You're right. I'm a magician, and you've got the potential." He motioned with a little flick of his wrist at the entrance of the tent, muffling their conversation and subtly warning the faire goers off. "Did you ever get any training?" he asked conversationally.

"No…" she admitted reluctantly. "My mom, she could only see the spark. It was my grandma who had real power, but she passed on before I showed the spark, so my mom just gave me the Tarot deck and told me to find my own way." There was indeed a spark--but of anger, in her eyes. She was _proud_ of her mother, and her roots, and no city-slicker stranger who wasn't connected to the earth like she was could tell her that she wasn't good enough to be considered a magic-worker.

"In some way, that's for the best…at least this way you haven't got anything to unlearn," he grinned reassuringly at her. "I read way too many fantasy novels as a kid, and learned some pretty strange things that drove my master crazy…especially the third time he caught me trying to enchant a broomstick to do my chores." He looked up, suddenly earnest, into her wide, blue eyes (that looked so strangely familiar). "Do you even want training? The raw power you've got will keep your fortunes accurate, beyond a doubt. You could keep the life you have now, just with an affirmed belief in what you're doing. Or…" He paused, thought, and continued. "Or, I could take you to see my master, the same man who taught me the Art, and he could either teach you himself, or find you a suitable teacher." He grinned disarmingly. "I'm afraid we can't do this like it's the old days--you shouldn't trust me enough to get into my car alone with me, should you?" It could have been his imagination, but she looked positively offended by the idea that he could be a dangerous person, which was flattering, and, coming from her, quite adorable. He fished a business card out of the pocket of his khakis, scribbled an address onto it, and handed it to her. "Can you get there on your own?"

She hesitated a moment. "This is outside of town, isn't it?" He nodded--Hiko was a recluse, living in the city would have driven him mad. "And the busses don't run out that far, do they?" The anger was gone, and he wished it back. He hated the insecurity he saw in her, especially since he knew (somehow) the long measure of her courage.

"Will you let me help you get a cab?" he asked softly, doing his best to not damage her already fragile pride. If he hadn't been watching her face carefully for any reaction, he would have missed the nod, but it was there. He solemnly gave her a twenty and a ten from out of his wallet, and closed her hand over it, then looked up into her eyes, smiling reassuringly. "Don't worry about it. If you feel the need to pay me back--which you really don't need to--let it happen when it happens. Don't rush it. You've got enough potential in you to become someone really great, if you really want it. Now, when you get there, tell the old dragon that his stupid student saw your potential. Ask for teaching. He'll give you hell--shoot it straight back at him. It's his first test, and he wants to know whether or not you've got the backbone to learn the Art." He flashed her another smile and walked out the opening of the tent, carefully breaking the ward he had set on it.

He could feel her eyes on him for the rest of the day.

* * *

Author's Notes: Okay, I like writing this. This world's got a good, clean feeling to it, I think. Now, about the tarot cards: All of the cards I've mentioned by name (except for the two of cups) are from the Major Arcana, which represent higher concepts or archetypes. The first card I mention, the Magician, is the second card in the deck, and according to Eden Gray's i Complete Guide to the Tarot /i , he represents human will, magical and mudane power and creativity, and is also perhaps my favorite card in the whole deck--as well as feeling very like Kenshin. But I'm a little strange.

After that is the two of cups, which is pretty well explained in the text, so I won't go into it here.

Next is the High Priestess, who is "the virgin daughter of the Moon". She is, in essence, the perfect woman in the traditional sense, and in a man's reading is thought to imply the presence of the perfect woman for him. She is also a cold card, to my mind, because she is cloistered away from the world and never allowed to really live. She fits with Tomoe.

I've made Hiko the Heirophant. That is the male card that corresponds to the High Priestess, but is almost her opposite. The Heirophant is a teacher, and, though it's not explicitly stated anywhere, I've always thought of him as somewhat of a curmudgeon, but good at heart. He is also a guardian of law and order and old secrets and teachings.

The Lovers after that represent lovers everywhere, especially the first pair of lovers, Adam and Eve before the fall. They can also represent innocence, temptation and idleness, but in this spread, they're just telling Kenshin that he's got love in his future.

I've used Strength in an odd manner here, but bear with me. The Strength card shows a naked woman holding a lion back easily. She is the combination of extremes and their balance, which allows her to control the baser desires of humanity. However, in this position, I've chosen to let the lion represent Kenshin, who has his own share of base, vengeful desires.

The last cards I referenced were cups--which represent fertility and bounty, and wands--which represent power and intellegence.

Oof. That's a heck of a lot of author's notes. I've got an idea of where I'm going with this next but I want to finish IDQ first...but you know what happens when I try to make promises. We'll just see what happens, I guess. Bai until later, friends!


	2. Chapter 2

Kenshin had an instinct for trouble. This particular morning, it was fully alert and tingling long before he was. This should have been a sign for him to not visit his Master that day, but Kenshin had difficulty paying attention to anything, even his own body, before coffee, and he was supposed to break his fast with Hiko (something never particularly enjoyable, but rather a Duty). As he approached the old stone houses outside the city, he could feel Hiko's aura and power, even in the driveway, which was normal, but the threads of amusement and annoyance Kenshin felt running through it were new. He fought back a wry smile. Kamiya must have rather the same relationship with Hiko as he had once had. He was just pulling into the driveway and pleading with whatever higher power there was for a normal day when he saw something entirely out of the ordinary.

Kamiya was sneaking out of the house. Of course, Hiko knew exactly what was going on—this was his house, if he didn't know when someone went in or out…well, it wasn't possible. He strolled over to where Kamiya was half-out of a ground-floor window, his hands in his pockets, the utter image of nonchalance, and looked at her mildly as she cursed the air blue and tried to disentangle her legs. He caught her just before she thumped to the ground, placed herself on her feet, and simply looked at her, mildly, but with a question in his eyes.

"You do know that he already knows you're gone, right?" His tone was light and matter-of-fact.

"I don't care. I'm out, aren't I? I took care of myself for years on the road, with no one caring if I lived or died." Her blue eyes crackled frustration. "Look. I've been working for two weeks straight under that idiot taskmaster. I've been startled out of my sleep with surprise drills and tests. I have had enough, and I'll be damned if I spend another minute in that house."

Kenshin felt vaguely disappointed. She had so much potential, but did she not have enough ambition to fully realize it? "So you're just going to run away? I had hoped you had a little more determination than that." The girl looked up, startled.

"I'm not running away. I need to master this, I know I do. I just…want a break, maybe even have a little fun." She sighed and dropped her shoulders. "A nap would be nice, too," she muttered, then looked back up, staring him in the eyes. "You're going to drag me back in there, aren't you?" She looked resigned to her fate.

"Actually, no. I've had a better idea. You can't reach your full potential if you don't take time to recharge the mind and body, and for a magician, that takes more than just sleep—it takes happiness—joy, even, and, ideally, a connection with the natural world. How'd you like to come with me for a picnic in the woods? I know a place where the fairies like to gather." He carefully kept all magic out of his voice—he wanted her to choose for herself, and was rewarded with a brilliant smile.

"Are you sure? You've got nothing more important that you need to be doing today?" She was enchanting when she was happy—high praise from an enchanter. He vowed to make her smile more often.

"Not at all. Now, let's get out of here before the Hierophant decides that you need more formal teaching today."

Her laughter at his comparison was sly, and she dashed across the slice of lawn to the driveway and Kenshin's car. He ran after her, feeling like a kid again and piled into the car next to her. The sleek little thing had its top down, and Kenshin decided that not only did she look excellent with the wind in her hair and a smile on her face, her pale skin was beautiful against the dark red leather of the seat. As they took off down the highway, he remembered to activate his "sun-screen" with a flick of his fingers. She looked better pale.

"By the way, you never did tell me your name," he said conversationally. He couldn't go around thinking of her as "Madame Kamiya" all the time, after all.

"It's Kaoru," she threw back, talking over the noise of the wind and trying to contain her whipping ponytail.

"Then where did 'Madame Kamiya' come from? Just a name drawn from the wind?" He was teasing her now.

"No, I actually am a Kamiya, just on my grandmother's side. Mama always told me that it was her I got my spark from, but legally I'm a Buford. I never did like that name, Kamiya always seemed more…comfortable, somehow." She was blushing faintly.

"That makes sense, actually," he replied, more seriously than he had been. "In the few families where seer-power is hereditary, they almost always go with a matrilineal naming system. For some reason, there are almost no male seers." He pulled off the highway and into the parking lot of a quaint, family-owned grocery store. "C'mon—I know it's early for lunch, but why not have a picnic breakfast?"

They stayed off of dangerous topics in the grocery store for obvious reasons, but Kenshin still managed to keep Kaoru off of her balance. He was an eclectic shopper, bouncing from one side of the store to the other with a grin on his face that managed to pull one from her own face so easily, dropping food into the basket she had draped over her arm until it was filled with fresh bread, local cheeses, organic juice and fruit, and, after a quick check of her meat-eating preferences, some nice cured salamis he thought she'd enjoy. Once they were through the check-out, they spun off down the highway again, this time taking a different road than Kaoru had ever been on, even though the faire she had traveled with had taken her to many of the back-country fields around the city. He slowed the car as they drove through the tall trees hung with Spanish moss, and the air grew drowsy with the heavy scent of magnolia. They finally parked on the road's shoulder, Kenshin breathing a cantrip over the car to activate protections he had put on it to prevent theft or damage, grabbed a ratty old blanket out of the trunk, then took her hand and lead her down a game trail that seemed to open up under his feet. He flung a smile back at her over his shoulder, to tease her along, but the tittering whispers she could hear at the very edge of her hearing, out where she knew she wasn't hearing natural sounds anymore, did nothing to reassure her.

"Kenshin, are you sure this is safe?" His lips quirked at the lack of tremor in her voice.

"Not at all. The Fae are capricious little things, but I will tell you that the ones here are good—and what's more reassuring, they owe me a few favors, which is worth quite a bit more with them."

They entered a small clearing by a brook. The trees, a comfortable mix of oak, elm and birch, seemed to hug it reassuringly, and the long, fine grass bending over the brook was misted with glittering droplets of water. Kenshin spread the blanket out, stamping a "spike" of magical Will into each corner to hold it down. He set the picnic basket down on it, then stretched out comfortably, fishing out a few chunks of melon to flick into the stream. Pale, blue hands, smaller than the hands of infants, surged up to grab them. Kaoru sank to her knees, enchanted, as the tiny fairies rose out of the stream, giggling and munching on the pieces of cantaloupe the size of their heads. They looked rather like Victorian fairies—that had learned a great deal about modern culture and liked what they saw. Their pale, blue hair had been dreadlocked and swung heavily about their thin, pointed faces, and silver rings shining with sapphires pierced their eyebrows and ears. Kaoru crawled over unselfconsciously and extended one tentative finger to the fairies, gravely offering it to shake. The nixies returned the gesture with great solemnity, then giggled with delight and swarmed up her arms to sit on her shoulders and play with her hair.

"You know, you won't be able to get them out till we leave," Kenshin said, chuckling. "And they get your shirt all wet." He shot a laughing glare at Kaoru's right shoulder.

"Mhmm, I bet they do. But how do you know, O Great Magician?" She was _smirking_.

"Oh, gods. You _have _been with Hiko, haven't you? You sound just like him." Aha! Bullseye! The look of mock-horror on her face was priceless, and was only made better by the fact that the sprites had tired of braiding her hair and had moved on to painting her face (how they were able to produce face paint, Kenshin had no clue. He suspected it was an offshoot of their natural camouflage magic, but he didn't want to investigate further. The stuff took forever to come off.) "Anyway, have you tried any of this cheese?" He offered her a pale round atop a hunk of bread.

She took it gladly. "You have no idea how nice it is to eat food that is neither mine nor Hiko's cooking. The majority of it comes out looking like some of the nastier potions I've seen in his grimorie."

"Well, I can't take credit for any of this, but I promise that I'm not too bad myself. I think it was mostly a self-defense mechanism from living with Hiko all those years."

"I can understand. For, Lo, I have partaken of the Bread of Carnies, and long have I supped with their kind…but goddamn if that isn't some of the most vile-tasting shit I've ever attempted to ingest." She crammed the last bite of her bread and cheese into her mouth with a sort of resolute humor, jostling the faeries on her shoulders. Kenshin snorted, and rolled over onto his stomach, picking at the remains of an apple.

"What made you strike out on your own, anyway? You can't have been very old when you left." Kenshin's tone was light, but the light behind his eyes betrayed a real curiosity. Kaoru was…touched, that he let so many of his guards down around her.

"It was after Mama died." She met his eyes with all of the aching vulnerability that she had felt that day. "She didn't have the spark, it's true…but it was like she was the only thing holding the town together, and when she passed on, the whole thing started coming apart at the seams, folks moving away to the big city, farms going under, even the goats up and dying. Some of the older people in the town wanted me to stay, to be their virgin sacrifice and try to keep the town alive, and I probably should have…"

"Not at all." His voice was firm. "You shouldn't ever make yourself into an unwilling sacrifice. Believe me, I know." Unconsciously, he rubbed the puckered, red scar marring his cheek. "Willing sacrifices…well, that's a little cleaner." He took a long pull off a bottle of water, as if trying to wash a foul taste out of his mouth.

"Where…have you been, that you know…no. I shouldn't ask." She blushed and looked down.

Kenshin smiled, a little sadly. "Don't feel bad. I'm willing to tell you, but not here." He reached out to ruffle the hair of her right-shoulder nixie, then dried his hand on the blanket. "Little streams babble loudly, and the Good Neighbors, who aren't always so good, don't need any more information on me." He rose and stretched, cracking his back. "Well, we seem to have finished up all that food. You ready to pack up and head back?"

Kaoru let the mood lighten and grinned her agreement, stuffing the empty wrappers into the grocery bag. Kenshin followed after her, withdrawing his will from the blanket and folding it neatly. In the middle of the flattened grass he left two chocolate chip cookies, resting on a plate of leaves. "The Lady of this grove is holding a Revel for the Autumnal Equinox, and I'm one of the few humans that got invited." He smirked into the trees. "She has a particular fondness for cookies, so I thought I'd R.S.V.P. in as pleasant a manner as possible." He slung the blanket over his shoulder and took the bag of garbage from Kaoru. "Now, I think we've got everything here. Ready to head back out to the car?"

Kaoru glanced around. "I think so…though I'm not looking forward to what Master Hiko will say when I come back." She grimaced. Kenshin laughed.

"Well, maybe I'll just have to help myself to lunch at his place to take the heat off of you? He won't refuse, and I'll get a chance to prove to you that my cooking isn't terrible."

She agreed gladly and followed him back down the game trail, but looked back just in time to see the pair of cookies snatched from the grass by a blur with a pale, slender hand, then a nearby oak tree shudder under sudden weight. A black braid hung down, but the rest of the figure was shrouded by leaves.


	3. Chapter 3

Kenshin? Not mine. Probably for the best.

* * *

_  
Her __laugh__…Her snicker was as dry as the clicking of a keyboard…_

His similes were as weak as a newborn kitten.

Kenshin wasn't suffering from writer's block. At least, not in the traditional sense. He was, he thought, suffering from writer's apathy. Of course, he should have been more dedicated. In fact, he usually was. Even though he was an extremely restless person by nature, he had tamed that roaming streak enough that he could usually sit and crank out stories for hours at a time. After all, when one was a writer of potboiler novels, it did not do to sit idle and wait for the right words to come. In fact, Kenshin had quickly learned that what he considered to be some of his worst writing was what the public was interested in.

At least he hadn't sunk so low as to write romances. Well, at least, not yet. And he was still getting steady checks from his action novels, so he didn't see any reasons to cross genre lines.

But today was different. In fact, yesterday, and several yesterdays before that had been different. He would sit down at his desk to write, the keyboard feeling as familiar and full of potential as always, but something would drag him away from his desk, to an open window, always facing north. He would pace the halls, his bare feet practically soundless on the wooden floor of his home, first poking his nose into the fridge to see if he was hungry, then stretching to see if his body was asking for a workout, then puttering around the house incessantly, trying to find something to calm his oddly-stretched nerves.

After walking away from the keyboard for the umpteenth time that day, Kenshin finally shook himself mentally. He was a magician, for gods' sake. He should be listening to his instincts. Just look at what happened last time he ignored them! Taking her away from Hiko's for a morning had been tremendously fun, and no small part of him wanted to do it again, but he wasn't entirely sure it was worth the ribbing and the sly, suggestive comments his mentor had subjected him to for the next few days…especially since he wouldn't have minded acting on some of those suggestions. In fact…Hiko's house was to the north. Was it really the girl who was distracting him to this extent? He prodded his feelings, then considered the new fantasy thriller he had just started a few days ago. Yes, the main character was a spunky, dark-haired, blue-eyed, adorably-short mageling knockout.

Damn. He blamed Hiko for this. He wasn't sure exactly how, but he did. And he was sure it was warranted. Of course. Really. He groaned, and let his head fall against the cool surface of the north-facing window in front of him, and did a quick mental calculation. It was still a week and a half before the Equinox, which would be his best excuse to see Kaoru again. Of course, he thought slyly, she wouldn't have proper clothing for a Fairy Revel, now would she?

Of course not! And Hiko certainly wouldn't be the person for her to go shopping with. And who else did she know in the magical community? Why, himself, of course. It was practically his civic duty to take her out on the town and get her a nice dress.

His mind immediately began contemplating just how nice a dress would look on Kaoru. …Though maybe sheer gossamer was a little thin for an autumn night…His mind wandered to the possibility of a "heater" spell, but it was a purely theoretical exercise. He was certain that Kaoru would never agree to wear anything thin or skimpy enough to need a heater. He  
dug around in his pocket for his cell phone, flipped it open, and prepared himself for merciless taunting. It would be worth it.

* * *

Normally, the Atlanta traffic irritated Kenshin to no end. Though he was no recluse like his mentor, the mindless crush of people got to him, not to mention the smog. This time, however, he was completely distracted by the delays by his wide-eyed passenger. Her nose was practically pressed against the window, trying to drink in the different sights.

"We'd camp out near Atlanta a lot," she explained, contorting in her seat to try and see the tops of the skyscrapers. Kenshin, conversely, saw a lot of her top. "But I never managed to get into the city proper. It's so…alive…" Kenshin had a momentary flash of terror, but was certain that Hiko would never let an unshielded empath wander around Atlanta, not even as a test to him. He crawled down Euclid Avenue and into Little Five Points, using only the faintest hint of magic to secure a parking space. Any more would be cheating.

"Now, would you rather eat lunch before you find your dress, or do you want to charge right into the fray?"

Kaoru grimaced. "I think I'd rather go ahead and get it over with, to be honest." Kenshin nodded.

"That's wise. That way, if any alterations are needed, they can be done while we enjoy the city." He took her arm and strode off. She was pulled along, spluttering. It was adorable.

"Alterations? But Kenshin, what about the cost?" He simply smiled and patted her hand.

"Don't worry about the cost at all, my dear." Now, where had that come from? He toned down his smile a kilowatt or two. "Not only should one wear her finest to a Fairy Revel, consider the cost the very beginning of your revenge upon Master Hiko." She looked vaguely guilty, but quite interested in the prospect of revenge. "I promise you, he can afford it. He made some good investing choices back when they struck oil in Philadelphia."

Kaoru knew her history. She boggled slightly. Kenshin was pleased. "So if Hiko, a mage, has lived that long, does that mean…"

Kenshin took the liberty of interrupting her. "Short answer: yes. Long answer: it's complicated. You should ask Hiko about it some time, he's more advanced in that specific branch than I am. I shouldn't need to start studying it for, oh, say, another fifty years." He drew up short in front of a shop. The dun-colored brick arches of the entrance lofted up just above head-height. They stepped inside, Kenshin holding the door for Kaoru, making her blush prettily. The store was dark, with rough beams of wood glowing golden in the sunlight that shone through the high windows. Heavy fabrics hung, draped over practically every surface, somehow giving off the same contented air as a cat lazing in the sun. A woman with a nimbus of pale, golden hair and bright blue eyes accented, rather than obscured, by the small, round lenses of her glasses, stepped out from between two swaths of blue and green velvet. Her boots clicked against the scuffed wood of the old floor as she walked briskly over to Kenshin and Kaoru, smiling warmly. Kaoru, shy, grabbed his hand tightly, and he couldn't help but run his thumb over her knuckles in reassurance. As the woman grew near, Kenshin spoke up.

"Hello, Melinda. How goes the business, these days?"

"Very well, old friend. I presume yours must be going well too, if you're bringing me such a lovely woman to clothe. You know my gowns don't go cheap."

"Don't worry too much about the contents of my wallet, m'dear. Master Hiko is picking this one up. Milady Kaoru here will be attending her first Fairy Revel come Equinox, and you know what happens when Queen Misao is offended." Melinda chuckled, then gnawed on her lower lip, apparently deep in thought. She began to slowly pace a circle around Kaoru, murmuring to herself. Kaoru cast slightly panicked eyes at Kenshin, but he reassured her with a smile and a squeeze to her shoulder. Kaoru colored slightly under the seamstress's gaze, who began pulling swatches of fabric out of her pockets and holding them up to her face.

"You'd look lovely in blue gossamer," she murmured, holding up a scrap of diaphanous fabric that didn't so much block out the light as color it gently. Kenshin twitched slightly, and image of beauty rising unbidden in his mind's eye while Kaoru turned bright red, twisting her hands together. "But, she continued, I suppose it would be a little chilly for the Equinox." Kenshin elected (prudently, he thought), not to mention the heater spell he had come up with.

"Melinda, m'dear, do you have anything already made that would suit Miss Kaoru? I'm afraid Master Hiko has her on the same sort of training schedule as I had, and I only have her for today."

Melinda tut-tutted. "A lady does not wear an off-the-rack dres to a Revel unless she absolutely must. Let me take her measurements and decided on a cloth and cut, and I'll have my sprites make it up." She checked her watch. "If I can dive into this now, I can have it ready by oh, say…six tonight?"

Kaoru opened her mouth to object to the special treatment, but Kenshin shushed her by holding her hand lightly and rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. She gasped most gratifyingly. "That would be lovely, Melinda." She nodded, then walked briskly over to a small alter behind the counter and lit three sticks of incense. The smoke plumed upward, then coalesced into three, distinct forms. Two caught up tape measures and began to swirl around Kaoru's form, while the other burned the measurements into a sheet of heavy paper. Kenshin stepped back, letting the _Rauchlingen_ do their work, while Kaoru held out her arms, grinning down at the little smoke-spirits. Melinda returned with a thick, leather-bound volume filled with drawings of different gowns, flipping through the pages until Kaoru seized on an elegant, simple gown.

Melinda smiled her approval. "Oh, that will be simply perfect! Now, with your coloration I'd recommend indigos and purples, combined with silver if you want jewelry…but I'm wiling to work with your color preferences. What's your area of specialty, dear? The symbolism of color may be important."

"I'm a seer," Kaoru said quietly. But I'd prefer blue or purple if that would be appropriate." The corner of the sewing-witch's mouth quirked up.

"Indeed, you should wear purple. It is often wise for a seer to announce her presence subtly, just as empaths are required to. Now, I think I have just the material…" She strode off to the back corner of the store and rummaged among the bolts. The smoke spirits finished their measuring, took a glance at the marked dress, and scurried off for lining and notions. The seamstress made her way back to the front of the store, a bolt of subtle fabric in her arms. The soft, heavy cloth shifted back and forth between dusk purple and deep, intense blue. Kaoru gasped and reached out to touch it. "Like it? It's samite."

"It's…amazing. Samite like the Lady of the Lake?" Kaoru looked up with wonder in her eyes.

"The very same, without the backwards notions of idolized purity." Melinda winked at Kenshin, who had the grace to color slightly. Kaoru looked sideways at Kenshin and wondered just what kind of old friends they were. The seamstress held a few more strips of cloth and twists of wire up to her face, then shooed them out of the shop so she could work.

The pair returned promptly at six after what was for Kaoru (and Kenshin, seeing it through her fresh eyes), an exhilarating day in the city. After a delightful introduction to grilled portabella mushrooms, gelato, street theater, glassblowers and jewelry shops designed with hippies in mind, Kaoru was very ready to pick up her dress, go home, and collapse into bed with her new treasures. There were a number of shops within walking distance that catered specifically to the magical community, including one delightful used-book store that she and Kenshin had gotten lost in for around two hours. Kaoru had three books of theory and practical applications in her arms, and even Kenshin had found a tome that he had been looking for. Kaoru's books had been the only purchases that afternoon that Kenshin hadn't had to force on the seeress. Also adorning her were a pair of gracefully twisted silver earrings and a pendant holding a fat globe of flawless amethyst (which Kenshin assured her would be useful as a scrying tool as well as looking beautiful). As they approached Melinda's shop, Kaoru gasped in delight. The gown was just inside the store, displayed on a dressmaker's dummy. The seeress rushed into the shop, to stroke the bell-sleeve almost reverently. Kenshin followed her, an amused expression on his face, and she blushed, lowering her eyes.

"I…never had anything this nice. It's beautiful, thank you."

"Don't thank me, thank Hiko. He's the one that paid for it, after all." He didn't want her eyes to be shining like that for Hiko, though. It wasn't fair for her to blush so prettily, damn it.

She shook her head. "If it weren't for you, I would never have gotten this dress, or even known about the Revel." She looked up defiantly. "And I _saw_ you pay for my jewelry, don't try to hide that you did." Her face, scrunched up with mock anger, was probably the most gratifying thing he had seen all that day. He fixed her with a gaze that was unusually unguarded, at least for him. She…gaped, slightly. Did he frighten her? He remembered frightening Tomoe, at least before that gallant lady learned him better. He opened his mouth to ask her, feeling more than slightly intoxicated by the air of breathless confidence surrounding them, when Melinda, called by the sound of the chimes on the door of the shop, emerged to package the beautiful dress and arrange payment with Hiko, breaking the spell.

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**Author's Notes: **Well, I had planned for more to happen in this chapter, but when I got to this stopping point and saw how long it was, and then thought of how long it had been since I updated, I thought it would be a good idea for me to put this up and quickly write up the Revel. Big things should be happening, really. This story actually has plot...just...not yet. BUT HEY LOOK KENSHIN AND KAORU ARE FORMING A RELATIONSHIP! ...whew. That should distract them!

In other news, I graduated from high school today. Thank all the gods that's over. Ficcing will continue over the summer, as will my growing love for Firefly. Perhaps there will be fic about that? I have no clue. Happy summer, people! May yours be full of delicious foods and delicious people to flirt with.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I do not, nor ever have, laid any claim to the characters of Rurouni Kenshin. Georgia owns Sweetwater State Park. Hiko owns your soul.

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Kenshin arrived at Hiko's doorstep, feeling uncomfortably like he was picking up his date for senior prom. Luckily, he wasn't wearing a tux. He had decided to use the heater spell on himself, and while a heavy red and white cape swirled about his shoulders, his chest was bare apart from green patterns of swirling vines emerging from his low-slung pants. He did not bother ringing the bell—Hiko knew he was coming—but merely stepped inside the kitchen to wait for Kaoru. A pan of what looked like carbonized brownies (but who could be sure?) rested on the counter, tattered ribbons of magic winding sullenly through it, suggesting that Hiko's attempts at teaching Kaoru potion making and cooking had both failed utterly. Remembering Tomoe's history of creative interpretations of arrival times in the name of aesthetics (which, Kenshin had to admit, were well worth the effort), he poured himself a cup of coffee from the pot and padded into the den (Hiko's choice of words, to be sure) to see his mentor. He was not alone in his consumption of coffee, but his nose told him the older man had added a stiffener to his.

"So when are you going to make yourself clear to her?" Hiko asked blandly, his eyes still fixed on the TV screen.

"I have no clue what you're talking about, Master," Kenshin replied just as blandly, though he could feel his hackles rising already.

"You know very well what I'm talking about, idiot. She may not be an empath, but for gods' sake man, where's your brain? You're trying to hide something as powerful as the emotion of a trained mage from the most gifted seeress I've had the pleasure of meeting in twenty years." He glanced around, making sure Kaoru hadn't heard the compliment. "One of these days she's going to step back from her cards and _know_. That is, idiot boy, if she doesn't already."

"Do you expect me _not_ to want her, Hiko?" He raked a hand through his hair, hanging loose in a red sheet down his back. He had just opened his mouth to continue when he was struck dumb. Kaoru padded into the room swathed in the samite gown. The heavy material clung to her curves and plunged just low enough to tease the imagination. The full skirt fell in soft waves around her legs. Kenshin dragged his gaze upwards again, only to be arrested by the glimmering twists of silver wire in her long hair and the polished globe of amethyst—the color of his eyes, he realized belatedly—hanging in her cleavage. The reaction was automatic, he rose and bowed over her hand. He was proud that he caught himself before kissing it and more than a little bemused. He had never been the stereotypical knight-errant before.

"Do I…do I look all right?" she breathed, slightly flushed.

"You look fantastic," he said thickly. The compliment was sincere and heartfelt. "If we were going to any other Queen's court, I would worry about how lovely you look, but Queen Misao isn't the jealous type."

Hiko turned up the volume on the TV and slurped noisily at his spiked coffee. Kenshin grimaced at him and led Kaoru out to his car. Instead of taking the road they had taken before, Kenshin drove them south and east, heading toward what he explained was the state park.

"Queen Misao's "ballroom" is actually that old burned-out cotton-mill in Sweetwater Park. You ever heard of it?" Kaoru shook her head. "It was burned down during the Civil War, along with the town beside it, but it's still in pretty good shape, if only in that it won't collapse on us. There's some very nice hiking trails around there, too." He flashed a grin at her, and they sped on through the night. Kenshin advised Kaoru of the rules of the grove.

"Now, Queen Misao is accommodating of her guests and will have a table of mortal food and drink set up. If you eat from that table and that table only, you should be fine. I would not, however, advise eating from the other table of food unless you'd like to spend a lot more time in the Fairy Realm. Other than that, use your common sense. Everyone attending tonight should be friendly, but you never know." Kaoru nodded gravely, looking more than vaguely nervous despite the reassurance.

They pulled up a parking lot at the head of the trails; Kenshin parked the car, then hurried around to the other side to open Kaoru's door and offer her his hand. She accepted, and he led her down a wide trail. Kaoru was glad that she had worn soft, flat slippers rather than more conventional high heels, because though the trees were hung with globes of fairy light, the path was still twisted with the roots of the trees around them. She glanced down at the path to see it covered with a fine dusting of silver sparkles worked into the dirt and the stone. Hearing her gasp, Kenshin smiled back at her. "You know, that's not actually something the fairies did. Lots of mica in the dirt here."

Perhaps it was just the mica in the dirt and the fairy lights in the trees, but Kaoru felt at least a little of her nervousness slipping away as she stared into the dark forest around her. To her, it appeared to be not so much a dark and forbidding forest, but rather a sylvan cathedral, dimly lit and sanctified. The air was thick with years and lives, but sweet and cool with the night and the river running nearby. A strange, electric energy caught at her limbs and leant a bounce to her step. She was more than eager to arrive.

Eventually, the path led them down a series of wooden steps and platforms, until they reached the chain link fence that guarded the burned out mill, which was thrown open to allow guests in. The pale yellow brick was lit from within by the same glowing globes of light that had lit the path. In a slightly dizzying instant, Kaoru noticed that the fairy lights did not reflect in the swiftly-moving waters. The grassy sward inside was packed with the revelers. Tales on the far end groaned beneath the weight of foods, and Kenshin pointed the mortal's table, which was marked with a perfect ice sculpture of the David, out to Kaoru. Music was already playing, a bewitching combination of pipe and fiddle, and strange creatures danced together and in rings, their feet twining together in impossible patterns, and Kaoru's feet itched to join them, though she did not know the dance. Across from the tables a throne stood, decorated by butterflies and colored lights. The slight figure curled up in it wore matching wings. Her face perked up when she saw Kenshin, and she skittered over to meet him. The magician bowed low; Kaoru, unsure, made an awkward curtsey. Formal greetings completed, the fairy squealed and threw herself at Kenshin, who spun her around, laughing a hearty counterpoint to her silver giggle. When he set her down again, she squealed in delight.

"Kenshin! I'm so glad you could make it! You didn't show up at Midsummer, I was so terribly disappointed!"

Kenshin smiled apologetically. "Terribly sorry, Milady Misao—that was just about the time those werewolves started getting aggressive up in Louisville, and I had to go troubleshoot."

Misao glanced around slightly nervously. "Which pack? We've got a delegation here from around those parts tonight, and I don't want trouble."

"Cleanclaw, it was. I think they fancied themselves some sort of eco-terrorist group. Lots of anti-human hate speech and the like."

The Fairy Queen sucked on her lower lip. "Those are the wolves that showed up tonight. There's only three of them, but they've been decidedly unfriendly." She pouted.

"We'll be sure to keep on our toes, Lady," Kenshin assured her.

"Having a seer with you should help." Misao winked at Kaoru. "And such a pretty little thing!" Kenshin's brain clicked into action and began frantic yet subtle hand gestures just behind Kaoru's back. "You're not going to…oh!" The tiny queen smiled a wicked smile. Kaoru, puzzled, twisted around to give Kenshin a Look, which Kenshin ignored. Misao continued. "Well, I'll let you get to your own pleasure. Try the melon balls, I hear they're delicious."

Kaoru definitely had her suspicions about Kenshin, but decided that the werewolves were a more pressing concern. She decided to stick close to Kenshin, who led her into the dance. In the middle ring of dancers danced the oldest spirits, who knew the old dances. The complex and beautiful rings were still beyond the younger spirits of the shopping malls and highways, however. Those spirits danced the way their mortal contemporaries did, and there Kenshin and Kaoru found their place. The dancing always stayed lighthearted and never ventured into the sensual teasing that some of the fae indulged in, but the few accidental touches that brushed across fingertips and shoulders sent shivers of lighting through the dancers, isolating them in their own world, full of streaming hair, pale skin, and wide eyes. The two were practically panting by the time they headed to the table of mortal food together. After filling their plates and indulging in the chocolate fountain, the two of them settled on the grass. Kenshin did his honorable best not to look down the front of her dress (any more than he had on the dance floor, at least), but cantilevering was (to him, at least), more interesting than raspberries. Misao was right about one thing, though; the melon balls were delicious, and heavily spiked with something potently alcoholic. Kenshin allowed himself one, and only one. He had a bad feeling that he'd need his wits about him tonight. Kaoru herself seemed not to favor the heavily alcoholic snacks and drinks. Kenshin was glad—Hiko wasn't being as bad an influence as he thought. She popped a raspberry into her mouth and watched the glittering dancers on the sward with huge eyes. When she had finished nibbling at her plate, Kenshin rose and offered her his hand, bowing over it.

"Would you care for another dance, milady? Or perhaps introductions to some of my friends?" Her grin as she scrambled to her feet warmed him more thoroughly and set his head spinning faster than any alcohol could, when suddenly her eyes snapped wide open, her body went rigid and she crumpled against him. The catch was instinctual, and as he dragged her back upright, she pressed close, shaking slightly.

"I'm…oh, God, I'm so sorry," she mumbled under her breath, her ears flushing bright red, and she moved with Kenshin readily as he eased her toward a bench that seemed to grow out of the ground, decorated with winding grape vines. A sympathetic centaur-woman, noting Kaoru's odd behavior and the color of her dress, trotted up with a potent-smelling drink in a very small glass, but Kenshin waved it away with an apologetic smile, then focused all his attention on the woman leaning against his shoulder.

"Don't worry about it, Kaoru. Everyone here knows how seers work, and they respect you for your power. Now, what did you see?" He hoped he wasn't prying by asking.

Her eyes were muddled disturbingly, and she looked down, ashamed. "I didn't see much of anything," she admitted. "I have a hard time seeing clearly without my cards—Master Hiko's trying to train me off of them…but I got a general warning of bad things happening soon." As it had in the fortune telling booth, her voice gained more confidence as she spoke about her talent. The Seeress let her eyes droop shut and gnawed on her lower lip, as if searching for deeper vision. "All I can see is moonlight," she complained. Horrible certainty bloomed in Kenshin's mind, and he quickly scanned the loosely-packed crowd around them for uncomfortably familiar faces.

"Lord, what fools these mortals be!" exclaimed the first, whose full beard was as grey as the pelt of the wolf who had nearly cracked his thighbone between his teeth.

"What, this spotted and inconstant man?" the roan-haired she-wolf said, catching up the line and flashing a pearly fang at him.

"I am that merry wanderer of the night," Kenshin replied mildly, not batting an eye, though Kaoru boggled. The werewolves weren't what she would have expected.

The tall, blonde one (looking more like an all-American football player than a child of the night) looked over at his leader quizzically. "He cannot be such a monster…"

The grey-bearded wolf smiled grimly. "Fair is foul and foul is fair." He fixed his dark eyes directly on Kenshin, and though the gaze was not directed at her, Kaoru had to school herself to keep from shrinking away. He smiled hungrily, as if he could smell her fear, and continued. "We are sent to give thee from our royal master thanks."

A muscle worked in Kenshin's jaw as he tried to calm himself—he had to play along with this game, the rules of the Fairy Court dictated it. And then he saw the lead wolf eyeing Kaoru with a look somewhere between "construction worker" and "butcher", and that just wouldn't do. A low growl clawed its way out of his throat, and he whirled to press a quick, firm kiss on Kaoru's forehead. A bloom of golden light emerged from that point, cascading over her body like a bell jar. It would have to do, as far as her protection was concerned. He turned to face the werewolves again, staring the leader straight in the eye. Damn dogs were easy enough to understand, and easier to fight once you got them mad. So he thumbed his nose and spat at their feet, all the while grinning and staring their leader in the eyes.

"Game's over, boys. I'm tired of it, as much as I love the Bard. Now, why don't you tell me why you're here and what you want with me and Kaoru?"

The old and slightly grizzled wolf was not daunted by Kenshin's stare, and met it with equal haughtiness. "Don't you want to know what we have to say, Master Kenshin? They do say that knowledge is power, you know…"

"And power is not something that I lack, dog." He glared up at the werewolf, who was (most annoyingly), quite a bit taller than him. Luckily for him, strength in the magical community was not a matter of stature. He stretched, allowing power to spill out of the luxurious movement and fill him until he saw stars at the edge of his vision. Being so full of his own strength always made him a little giddy, and he let that fey edge show in his grin. The full force of it hit the wolf, and the moment in which he realized he was out of his depth was gratifying in a deep way. Kenshin took a single, measured step forward, feet confident in every inch of the sward—and why should he not be? So full of power, he could feel the living thrum of every blade of grass, every fae creature dancing on it, and, most potently, the golden burn of the girl directly behind him. The three souls behind him were crabbed and tight compared to that glowing life, and he pitied and despised them for it. Their wolf-spirits could have been powerful and rich and shining, but they were instead crabbed with hate and thoughtlessness. He dropped a single word, intoned deep in his throat, into the tension between them. "Leave." The creatures dropped all pretense of resistance, turned tail in a most literal sense, and fled. No doubt they would report back to their pack leader, who would most definitely retaliate after such a gross loss of face, but at the moment, Kenshin didn't care. A flick of his fingers dispelled the bell jar of light shielding Kaoru and he whirled back to face her. A gentle touch under her chin tilted her face up to meet his, and their lips met in a kiss that would have been chaste had they not both been magicians. Innate power, needing no summoning or conscious control spilled out of the pair. Kenshin held his back somewhat, not wanting to offend, but it was a difficult control. After so long without the touch of someone so sweet, it was all he could do not to take what he wanted and sun himself like a cat in her heat. Kaoru had no such reservations, and her spirit ripped forth, exploring and caressing in ways that left him breathless. They broke a long moment later to hooting and catcalls from a group of satyrs that had little to do with Mr. Tumnus and much more to do with Greek legend. Kaoru blushed, lowering her eyes, but looked nowhere near repentant. Kenshin flashed a lazy grin to the satyrs, who gave him a thumbs-up sign in return, and strolled off the dancing ground with a smirk on his face that had everything to do with his arm around her shoulders and the sly look in her eyes. There would be hell to pay in the morning, both from angry werewolves and the headache he would have from a slight magical overload, but at that point in time, he could not have cared if he tried.

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**Author's Note:** Whee hee! Kenshin seems_ friendly_! In other news, please email me if you're reading this and attending AnimeIowa. I'm going to be there, and if anyone would like to meet up, I think that'd be amazingly awesome. Also: I have pictures from my visit to Sweetwater park, which include several of the mill itself. I will be posting them on a photobucket tomorrow (August 7th), and I'll leave the link on my profile. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! 


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